Naloxone Archives - Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina

More drugs, fewer weapons found in schools, crime data shows

More than 99% of students were not involved in a reportable crime on campus, said Michael Maher, chief accountability officer for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. Most schools reported only zero to five criminal offenses at their school last year, he said.

Criminal offenses went down again in North Carolina schools during the 2024-25 school year, with another significant drop in offenses for weapon possession, new data shows.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released the latest public school crime statistics during the State Board of Education meeting on Wednesday.

The drop in criminal offenses reported reflects ongoing trends, but so does a continued rise in offenses for drug possession.

Total offenses dropped from 12,212 the year before to 11,470 offenses last year, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which released the data Wednesday afternoon.

In one decade, 170 babies, kids and teens died in NC after fentanyl encounters

Read the original article on the Raleigh News & Observer website.

One hundred and seventy babies, kids and teens in North Carolina died after fentanyl exposure between 2015 and 2024, new state data shows.

Infants, children younger than 5 and teenagers aged 13 to 17 were the most likely to die after fentanyl exposure here during the past decade, according to updated data from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

The data, focused on fentanyl-positive deaths between 2015 and 2024, was presented by the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to a committee of the state Child Fatality Task Force last week.

Fentanyl is extremely dangerous because its residue is easy to ingest, and drug paraphernalia like needles or spoon often contains enough fentanyl to kill a small child. In one toddler death cited by the medical examiner’s office, a 1-year-old was exposed to fentanyl left on a cotton ball next to the bed where the mother and child slept.

“Illicit fentanyl really is one of the substances that is predominantly toxic to the pediatric population,” Sandra Bishop-Freeman, chief toxicologist and forensic laboratory director at the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told the Charlotte Observer.

Source: North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force • Graphic by Caitlin McGlade/The Charlotte Observer

Among teenagers, accidental ingestion often comes via other drugs — even borrowing what a teen thinks is a Tylenol from a classmate could lead to an overdose from a laced pill. In a case cited by the medical examiner’s office, a 16-year-old who died of fentanyl overdose took what they thought was Xanax at a party.

More 17-year-olds died than any other group among minors between 2015 and 2024, with 52 lives lost. Infants less than 6 months old had the second-highest death toll, with the total reaching 24.

Among racial groups, American Indian and Black residents experienced the highest number of pediatric fentanyl-positive deaths in the state, the data says.

And loss of life overall in North Carolina is much higher than a decade ago — growing from 243 deaths in 2015 to 1,954 in 2024.

Shown is a fatal dose of the synthetic opioid drug fentanyl. U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION

Despite pediatric dangers, deaths decline in recent years

There is some good news: Despite the number of fentanyl-related deaths remaining elevated compared to decades past, the rate has begun to slow over the past several years.

Fentanyl deaths among all age groups fell 26% statewide in October 2025 compared to the previous year, with deaths in Mecklenburg County down to 142 from 192.

Overdose deaths have been declining the past two years, CDC data released Wednesday shows. North Carolina’s fentanyl overdose rate among all age groups fell by more than 30% between August 2024 and 2025.

Increased access to preventatives, such as the overdose-reversing nasal spray naloxone, could be helping slow overdose death trends.

The overdose-reversing nasal spray naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, has become easier to access in recent years, federal data shows.

A multifaceted prevention strategy has likely helped contributed to the slowdown in overdose deaths in North Carolina, according to Kella Hatcher, executive director of the NC Child Fatality Task Force. Her group has been studying pediatric overdoses for several years.

“You have to keep working on a combination of efforts to make progress, and that’s the case with many [preventable] causes of death,” Hatcher said.

A 2025 Prevention Block Grant funded several primary prevention programs, including youth education efforts that served close to 9,000 during the year. Another program distributed more than 11,000 lock boxes and 15,000 medication disposal kits, according to Tuesday’s presentation.

Opioid settlement dollars are also funding prevention work in many North Carolina counties. The state is receiving $1.4 billion as part of national settlements with opioid companies, money aimed at bringing resources to communities harmed by the opioid epidemic.

The medical examiner’s office will continue to share data with state and county agencies focused on helping curb the preventable childhood deaths, toxicologist Bishop-Freeman said.

“Despite the trends possibly plateauing, these pediatric deaths are still too many,” Bishop-Freeman said.

Naloxone to be available in Davidson County Middle and Highschools

Download PDF

From revival to recovery: Some paramedics are changing the front line of addiction care

Read the original article on the North Carolina Health News website.

Supplies, such as the medications naloxone and buprenorphine, carried by Buncombe County community paramedics on the post-overdose response team. Credit: Courtesy of Justin Hall

By Rachel Crumpler

A life lost in Buncombe County in 2022 still weighs on — and motivates — Shuchin Shukla, a family physician who specializes in addiction medicine.

A community paramedic had responded to an overdose involving a person recently released from jail. After reviving them, the paramedic told the patient about a soon-to-launch program that would start people on a medication used to treat opioid addiction after an overdose.

“That would be amazing if you had it now, I would like to start now,” the patient said, according to a shift note of the encounter.

But the program was still 10 days from launch.

Soon after, the person used again, experienced a second overdose and went into cardiac arrest. They later died at the hospital.

“For the team working on this, the case hit home that every moment of every day matters for patients. At any minute, they’re at risk of dying or having an overdose,” Shukla said. “That’s how critical this is.”

For months, Shukla had been working with Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services to launch Buncombe Bridge to Care, a project to equip paramedics to administer buprenorphine — a medication proven to ease opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings and support long-term recovery for people with opioid use disorder — when responding to overdoses or others in the community struggling with addiction.

“Every life is worth saving”: How a UNC researcher’s website is connecting communities to naloxone

Read the original article and watch the video on the WRAL News website.

Delesha Carpenter’s personal tragedy has fueled her mission to combat opioid overdoses through increased naloxone access. Her new website with UNC maps naloxone availability across NC’s 100 counties.

Delesha Carpenter began her career as a researcher focused on pediatrics. A little over seven years ago, her path took an unexpected turn following the deaths of two close friends.

“A lot of people who get into this field, it’s personal,” Carpenter said. “I lost two friends within two weeks of each other to opioid overdoses. That really inspired me to increase access to naloxone.”

The researcher and professor with the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy recently launched NalxoneNearMe.org. The website features an interactive map of all 100 North Carolina counties, rating them based on the number of naloxone distribution services available.

Durham County is tied with Mecklenburg County as the highest rated counties on the map with a score of 88. Wake County wasn’t far behind with a score of 77.

Carpenter told WRAL the Naloxone Availability Scores are based on the level of availability of no-cost naloxone and pharmacies that sell naloxone in each county.

Naloxone distribution resources are categorized into 14 types, including syringe service programs, EMS, harm reduction organizations, health departments, pharmacies and healthcare providers.

“The highest score a county can receive is 100, which would mean that all 14 naloxone sources included in the Naloxone Availability Score are present in that county,” Carpenter explained. “If a county had one harm reduction program in the county, they would get the same amount of ‘credit’ toward the score as a county that had two or three reduction programs.”

Increased naloxone use and availability are among the efforts researchers say have contributed to a reduction in opioid overdose deaths in recent years.

WRAL investigated how the medication works when taking viewers inside the human body to reveal the way naloxone fights against opioid overdoses.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported more than 41,500 North Carolinians died from overdoses between 2000-2023.

As of the latest data available from 2024, overdose deaths decreased by approximately 32% from the year prior.

“One thing is everybody’s life is worth saving. It is important to carry naloxone, especially if you’re going to be in situations where people are going to be using drugs, you never know what is in the drugs that you’re using,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said increasing the availability of medications for opioid use, such as buprenorphine and methadone, would also help reduce overdose fatalities.

“Other resources that people should be aware of, and one that’s linked on our website, is Naloxone Saves. Ours tells you what types of sources are available, but you can go to the Naloxone Saves website and find the actual pharmacies that carry and stock naloxone, or find your health department and whether it’s distributing naloxone,” Carpenter added.

Naloxone will not harm someone who hasn’t taken an opioid, so it is recommended even when it is unclear what kind of drug a person has taken.

More than one dose may be needed because some opioids, like fentanyl, can take a stronger hold on the opioid receptors.

Father turns son’s overdose tragedy into advocacy as North Carolina overdose deaths drop

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – What started as a normal day for UNCW student Alex Bradford ended in tragedy, but his father’s mission to honor his memory comes at a time with encouraging statistics about North Carolina’s fight against the overdose crisis.

“I would say by far that was the worst day of my life,” said Jeremy Bradford, Alex’s father.

Alex died in 2023 from an overdose, a life full of promise that became part of a nationwide statistic.

Jeremy Bradford heard the words no parent is ever prepared to hear.

“Because of the distance between Spring Lake and Wilmington, we didn’t initially find out. We found out through social media. Somebody texted my wife and said, ‘Hey the police and ambulance are at the boys’ apartment complex. I think something’s wrong with Alex,” Bradford said.

Jeremy says his son was having a tough day and purchased what he thought was a Percocet pill, but it was actually straight fentanyl. That was two years ago.

Now in North Carolina, the state health department reports overdose deaths are trending down.

Each day in 2023, 12 North Carolinians died from drug overdoses. But in 2024, that number decreased to 8.

Locally, numbers presented to the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners in April showed emergency room visits from overdoses decreased from 110 in 2023 to 98 in 2024.

“For the first time in over 20 years of studying this, I actually am speechless,” said Nabarun Dasgupta, a street drug expert at UNC-Chapel Hill, when asked about drug trends moving forward.

He also says trends show that most overdose deaths are between Gen X and millennials.

“What you see with Gen Z is a really different substance use pattern that’s more Psilocybin, more marijuana, a little more ketamine and ecstasy. And so they have watched their parents and their grandparents’ generations struggle with opioids and have decided that’s not the drug of choice for that generation,” said Dasgupta.

Dasgupta says there are several reasons overdose deaths are declining.

“I think we can understand the decline in overdoses in three ways. One, the drug supply is changing. Number two, people’s behaviors are changing. And number three, the demographics of who is using opioids is also changing,” Dasgupta said.

And a common activity seen in college students and drug use is sharing pills. But he says this is also on the decline.

“We see a lot less of that sharing behavior now. And that’s kind of across the board, and the problem now is not really with the prescription opioid and pills,” said Dasgupta. “Most mortalities are coming from powdered substances.”

But Jeremy Bradford believes advocacy and awareness play a role in the decline, too.

That’s why he created the 2 Out Rally Foundation to educate and advocate for mental health and empower individuals impacted by illicit fentanyl use.

They host events and advertise at places like baseball games to help parents and kids educate themselves.

“It’s been very therapeutic for our mental health to put pain to purpose. And our purpose now is to tell Alex’s story and ensure no other parent has to go through this. I’m a member of a club I never wanted to be a part of. And I don’t like new members,” Bradford said.

Bradford hopes that the death of his son will help save the lives of others, and overdose deaths will continue to decline.

“So that when it gets tough, when it is the bottom of the ninth and there are two outs, you’re not out of the game,” said Jeremy Bradford. “There’s still plenty of life to live and to move on. And you don’t need to result to a negative action that could end up taking your life.”

After Years of Meetings, Davidson County’s $25 Million Opioid Settlement committee pushes to finally hire coordinator

Read the original article on DavidsonLocal.com.

The Davidson County Opioid Settlement Fund Committee is looking at hiring a coordinator to oversee how to use the $12 million the county will have in opioid settlement funds.

Currently Davidson County has been paid $6.9 million in opioid settlement funds and is slated to receive another $1.9 million in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

These settlement funds are part of the $56 billion North Carolina received from the national opioid settlement lawsuit in 2021. Davidson County is slated to receive $23.4 million over the next 13 years.

On Monday, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced North Carolina will receive $145 million in a settlement with Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sacker family. Davidson County is slated to receive an additional $2.3 million in funding from this recent settlement. Most of these funds will be distributed in the next three years according to the NC Department of Justice.

This would bring the Davidson County Opioid Settlement fund to approximately $12 million, which has mostly not been used. Last year, the county approved $1.2 million from opioid settlement funds toward the Medically Assisted Treatment program at the Davidson County Jail.

During the meeting on Tuesday, several committee members vented frustration on the lack of progress, stating they have met for several years and have yet to come up with a clear plan on how to spend these funds.

Lillian Koontz, director of the Davidson County Health Department, said she proposed the idea of hiring a coordinator for the opioid settlement funds over a year ago.

“These were the exact things we talked about and here we are a year later,” said Koontz. “We have not spent any money; we have not done any coordination… I strongly support using some of the opioid funds to identify a human being to do the research for us, to say how much money we have, to vet the programs and then bring solid ideas to us. As it is now, we just come into a meeting, hear some ideas and then we don’t meet again for several months and we are not doing anything.”

The committee members voted to send their recommendations to hire a coordinator/director to oversee the county opioid settlement funds to the county commissioners for approval during their meeting on June 23. If approved, the county manager would work with the county human resource director to create a job description and begin the hiring process.

Committee member Billy West, executive director of Daymark Recovery Services, said the committee should also consider granting smaller requests, under $10,000, to community partners until the new coordinator can be hired.

“It could be three or four months before that person actually gets (here),” said West. “In the meantime, there are other things that can be done so we are not viewed as a bunch of people sitting around with $12 million and won’t even spend $20,000 of it on local things.”

Mike Loomis, founder of Race Against Drugs, currently has a request for approximately $6,000 in funding from the Davidson County Opioid Settlement Committee and has not had any response from the group, or had his request sent to the county commissioners.

He is currently paying for educational materials, like several billboards to raise awareness of the impact of fentanyl overdoses, out of his own pocket. He purchases doses of Naloxone and distributes them in the community. Race Against Drugs also has an awareness event at Breeden Insurance Amphitheater in Lexington on Aug. 9.

Loomis said he is disappointed in the progress of the opioid committee, especially when it comes to supporting those in the community who are “boots on the ground” in battling opioid addiction.

“They are just waiting for another life to be lost,” said Loomis. “I have been doing this by myself for so long and I am up against the stigma of people struggling with addiction. I am disappointed, but I will keep doing what I do.”

County commissioner Steve Shell said the opioid committee can already bring any spending request for use of settlement funds for approval by the county commissioners.

The committee also discussed other options available to combat opioid addiction, including Naloxone (Narcan) vending machines, which would be available to citizens after hours. Several members showed hesitation on placing these machines in the community but voted to create a list of community partners which are already providing Naloxone.

The providers list would be available on the United Way 211 system. NC 211 is an information and referral service that connects people with local resources 24-hours a day.

Major Billy Louya, who oversees operations at the Davidson County Detention Center, gave an update on MAT program. He said since Jan. 1, there have been 27 participants in the program, which equals about 1% of inmates booked into the jail.

The MAT program uses once a month medication administered at the jail, instead of transporting inmates to local treatment clinics weekly and includes a peer support program after the inmate is released from detention.

The committee also discussed finding additional community partners to provide more post incarceration peer support.

The Davidson County Opioid Settlement Fund Committee meets quarterly and includes representatives from organizations impacted by opioid addiction, including the health department, law enforcement, family services, emergency services, county government, elected officials and community partners involved in prevention and recovery.

“One pill took her daughter”: Fentanyl Crisis turns personal at Salisbury Roundtable

Congressman McDowell pledges to fight fentanyl crisis in North Carolina after losing his brother to an overdose.

SALISBURY, N.C. — The fentanyl crisis tearing through North Carolina isn’t just a public safety threat — it’s personal. At a high-level roundtable this week in Salisbury, that reality hit home as lawmakers, prosecutors, and grieving families joined forces to demand action.

Congressman Addison McDowell, who convened the meeting, opened with a message that carried more weight than politics.

“Getting it off our streets is just the first step,” McDowell said. “Prosecuting those who profit from fentanyl is a major step as well.”

For McDowell, the fight is more than a policy priority — it’s a personal mission. His younger brother died from a fentanyl overdose, a tragedy that inspired his run for Congress.

“We want to stop the deaths that come with this poison,” he told the room, surrounded by district attorneys, sheriffs, and special agents.

Among the voices calling for change was Barbara Walsh, founder of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina. She clutched a photo of her daughter, Sophia, as she told the story no parent should have to repeat.

“Sophia was 24. She went to visit friends in Watauga County. On her way out of town, she stopped for water,” Walsh said. “That bottle, unknown to her, had just eight nanograms of fentanyl. It was enough to kill her.”

Her story silenced the room — a chilling reminder that behind the data are names, faces, and futures cut short.

“It’s more than a number. Every photo is just one ripple in a massive pond of fentanyl deaths,” Walsh said.

Local sheriffs echoed her urgency, pointing to limited resources and the growing reach of drug trafficking networks.

“What I’ve seen in three years as sheriff — this is a local resource issue,” said Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen.

Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers added, “We can’t fight this alone. We have to work with partners — every agency, every county.”

The roundtable, titled “Prosecuting the Poison,” ended with a commitment to tougher laws, better coordination, and faster action.

For leaders like McDowell and families like the Walsh’s’, that commitment can’t come soon enough.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, help is available. Contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

Fentanyl Victims Network of NC honors families, leaders who fight fentanyl traffickers

Read the original article on the Carolina Coast Online website.

BEAUFORT — It was standing room only as more than 50 people attended the forum about fentanyl Saturday at the Beaufort Train Depot. Those attending have witnessed the devastation fentanyl causes as local victim families introduced their loved ones and shared the many ways fentanyl causes death.

Barbara Walsh, executive director of the Fentanyl Victims Network of NC, who organized the gathering to honor those who lead the effort to stop fentanyl traffickers, said In many instances. Lethal fentanyl is ingested unknowingly. Fake prescription pills containing undisclosed fentanyl additives made to look like Adderall, Xanax, Percocet and Oxycontin are deadly.

“The victims did not know,” she said.

The pharmacy is the only safe dispenser of prescription medication. Recreational drugs also may contain undisclosed deadly fentanyl additives because it is a cheaper man-made ingredient.

Fentanyl is highly addictive. A person’s body can quickly become dependent on fentanyl. Local recovery and treatment resources are offered by Brooke Barnhill, manager of the Post Overdose Response Team (PORT) within the Carteret County Health Department.

Fentanyl has killed 18,959 North Carolina residents in 10 years, 2013-2023. Of those, 168 occurred in Carteret County.

Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina honored the #1 NC investigation and prosecution team by presenting them with the Save Lives Together award: Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, Prosecutorial District 4 (Carteret, Craven and Pamlico Counties), Assistant District Attorney Dave Spence, Carteret County and Legal Assistant (Paralegal) Michelle Gillikin, all of Carteret County.

Walsh said in the state, there are 37 NC Sheriffs who have no fentanyl investigation arrests leading to prosecution and four NC District Attorneys who have no prosecutions.

The removal of fentanyl traffickers who cause death requires teamwork. The Sheriff treats each death as a homicide investigation until proven otherwise. If the investigation leads to a prosecution, ADA Spence and LA Gillikin apply their extensive legal expertise to each case.

Walsh said victims and their families are treated with dignity and respect throughout the investigation and prosecution phases. This is unique to Carteret County.

“It should not matter where a person dies in NC to receive an investigation and justice, but it does,” she said

Walsh thanked Shannon Adams for serving as the local co-host of the event. Shannon’s brother, Ryan, thought he was dependent on Percocet, yet died in 2019 from undisclosed fentanyl additives in those pills.

Shawne Moran and Keenan, First Responder Therapy Dogs of Eastern North Carolina, were on hand to comfort the victim families and to discuss what they do to support recovery efforts in Carteret County.

For more information, visit www.fentvic.org or email info@fentvic.org to connect with local fentanyl victim families.

Download Article PDF

Community unites at Beaufort forum to address rising fentanyl crisis in Carteret County

Read the original article and watch the video on the WCTI News 12 website.

More than 50 community members gathered at the Beaufort Train Depot Saturday to discuss the deadly impact of fentanyl in Carteret County. During the forum, Sheriff Asa Buck, District Attorney Scott Thomas, and other local officials received the Save Lives Together Award for their ongoing fight against fentanyl trafficking.

Families at the event shared personal stories about losing loved ones to fentanyl, highlighting the community’s urgent fight against the deadly drug.

One of those was Barbara Walsh who lost her Daughter to the deadly drug.

“It’s important for the families who lost a loved one to know that what their community is doing to keep someone else from dying,” said Walsh.

And In Carteret County alone, fentanyl overdoses have claimed 168 lives from 2013 through 2023.

According to Carteret County Sherriff Asa Buck a trend decreasing over the years.

“These cases are not different someone committed an act they provided a drug to someone caused them to lose their life and we investigate that just like a homicide and we prosecute those offenders just like we would if they would have killed somebody with a knife or a gun, ” said Sheriff Asa Buck